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I have a red embroidered with the word Aikido in Kanji and it looks great!. In the way I use my belt, is always in my right side.

Before beeing Yudansha, I used a white belt with aikido in kanji in black.

In my dojo there is no roule or custom anout this,.. there are people that dont have any kanji or kana,.. my sensei uses first and last name in katakana in one end and also aikido in kanji in the other,.. i think!.

JAA registered Shodokan yudansha have a belt with (at one end) one kanji before their name (in katakana), and one after.

The name varies with the individual, sometimes first, sometimes second, sometimes even their surname in katakana preceded by a romanji initial. In my case its my first name.

The meaning was actually explained to me on this forum, by PeterR, I'm sure he won't mind if I quote his post:

Quote:

Well the kanji before the name means presented to and the kanji after the name means kun (affectionate title for little boys). Nariyama pays for the belt out of his own pocket. It is his present to you and means you have become his student. Before that you buy your own belt and you are the responsibility of others. Of course he teaches you but its sort of a line in the sand.

On the other end of the belt is the name of the wearer's home dojo. (Or in the case of JAA registered foreigners such as myself - "Shodokan Honbu")

I like the idea of having writing in a muted color as Rachel mentioned earlier. I was thinking of doing that on my obi. I wonder if anyone thinks it is egotistic to have ones name written on their sleeve? I would like to have my name in Kanji (or Kana??)some day

I have Aikido on one end and our school name on the other, both in gold. I have them both coming out of the right side of my hakama, with the school name (Shudokan) on top. The reason is that, Aikido means the world to me, because of all it has given me, and my school so much more, because of all the more it has given me.

I like the idea of having writing in a muted color as Rachel mentioned earlier. I was thinking of doing that on my obi. I wonder if anyone thinks it is egotistic to have ones name written on their sleeve? I would like to have my name in Kanji (or Kana??)some day

Hey, Rachel and I just happen to know a place here in Michigan that does a nice job of it

I have the kanji for Seidokan aikido on one end and my first initial and last name in english on the other. I have a hakama that has my first name embroidered on the back but I don't like the way that hakama fits so I never wear it.

"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."

On my old hakama, soon to be retired, I have my last name, but somewhat phonetically done in kanji. It reads "shin bu son" for "Simpson", but the kanji translates roughly to "grandson of true warrior" and was done to remember my Grandfather who I never got the chance to meet. My belt is blank.

I find names on gi's helpful, rather than egotistical. It's very helpful at a big seminar too, kind of like name tags at a party. Although I don't have my name on mine, my wife is threating to write it on the inside of the collar, like at camp, if I leave it around the gym again.

I've got "not bad for a fat bloke" on mine. It was the first comment I received from a mate after I passed my second dan test.

My hero

I used to be the Administrator for a company that makes punchbags for BRYAN, Academy, et al. as well as various custom clothes, so had, and still have, free access to an embroidery machine. So for the sake of personalising my Aikido a little, the only belt I've not embroidered has been my white as I only wore it for two months. Belts so far;